Saving for retirement when you don't plan to retire?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, sure, some people die younger and some people can work until they're 87. No duh. But until you can predict the future, you can only make educated guesses and plan accordingly. Hope is not a good retirement strategy for me, but your mileage may vary.

planning for the worst case scenario is not an "educated guess".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, sure, some people die younger and some people can work until they're 87. No duh. But until you can predict the future, you can only make educated guesses and plan accordingly. Hope is not a good retirement strategy for me, but your mileage may vary.

planning for the worst case scenario is not an "educated guess".

So you "plan" on dying when your money runs out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Think of saving for retirement as a form of insurance premium. You might need it and use it, or you might not. But better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

My parents wanted to keep working, but ill health forced them into retirement whether they liked it or not (they didn't).

right. except that this "insurance premium" is very expensive, and one also needs to live. nobody here is against retirement savings, it's just a matter of how much at what cost. according to this forum, one is supposed to live cheaply his whole life so he can address his end of life period with not a care in the world. i disagree with that.

It's not that expensive to put aside a certain percentage of your income every month -- and you'd be crazy not to if your employer matches your contribution. I can't remember what I contributed when I first started, but it is 13% now. I never see the money in my bank account so I never miss it, and it doesn't mean I'm living a miserable skinflint lifestyle now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why so snarky? Most people don't save *enough* for their old age. You have no idea what kind of health you'll be in, or your spouse, or your children. Some people are forced to take time off from working to care for a child or other relative. Many people plan to work for a lot longer than they actually are able to. Cancer, injury, disability, disease can all make it impossible to carry on working. Then what?

I've known a LOT of old people, some indigent and some wealthy, some completely with it, and some completely demented. NOBODY has said, wow, I wish I had saved less for retirement, and there are many, many who wish they had planned better. Having money at the end is a big, big help.

OP here. The snarky messages don't belong to me.

I understand making sure I'll be able to afford health care. I believe in great insurance and have savings to take care of medical issues. It seems like so many talk about retirement as a goal and save for it as though it is their lifelong dream but if you aren't planning to need money beyond healthcare and incidentals, why continue saving money? It may be entire naive but I think its worth discussing.

Stopping saving when you have $2 mil is a lot different than not saving for retirement. Everyone needs money to live one when you are not working. Many people have to stop working at some point unless they die prematurely or are one of the lucky few who can work into their 80's. Everyone else needs money.

My MIL was healthy and fit her whole life. At age 84 she was still volunteering, walking each day for exercise, living in her own home and driving. At age 85 she had a stroke and started to be forgetful. A few months later she had another stroke and we moved her into assisted living. One month after that she had a major stroke that almost cost her her life. But she survived and is now living in a nursing home hooked up to a feeding tube. Thankfully, she had money saved for assisted living. And thankful even more that she had long-term care insurance. We could have never predicted one year ago this vivacious, active woman would be dependent on others for her care. Her mother lived to age 93 in her own home until she died. One never knows.

This story sounds familiar...this has happened to a friend of mine. (if it is the friend, I am trying to get the family to to head down to visit you).

In my case, I am saving, not for myself, for for my family. I do not expect to live until retirement age...a combination of Cancer and heart disease makes that unlikely --but DW will need money, and DD needs college education. And I can't buy life insurance anymore (cancer and heard disease).

And not saving is betting on death...I would rather retire at 65 than die at 51

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean you don't plan to retire? Are you just going to die at 65?

In what world does a person have to either die or stop working at 65?

It means I plan on working until I'm dead or close to it.

Why would you do this? You do know there's little virtue in working, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean you don't plan to retire? Are you just going to die at 65?

In what world does a person have to either die or stop working at 65?

It means I plan on working until I'm dead or close to it.

You might not have a choice. If you become sick or develop dementia etc, you won't be able to do your job and will need long term care. Alzheimer's patients can live a long time with decreased mental capacity. It's really sad.

My FIL is 88 and does not remember his own name much less his wife's whom he's been married to for the past 60+ yrs. Luckily he can afford the 20k month assisted living facility he and his wife are living at. It's very nice but still an old age home.

You don't want to be old and poor and have to go to a medicare paid for facility - not the kind of place to live out your golden yrs.

There is no such thing. Medicare doesn't pay for nursing homes. MediCAID does, not not Medicare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean you don't plan to retire? Are you just going to die at 65?

In what world does a person have to either die or stop working at 65?

It means I plan on working until I'm dead or close to it.

Why would you do this? You do know there's little virtue in working, right?

Some people like their jobs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean you don't plan to retire? Are you just going to die at 65?

In what world does a person have to either die or stop working at 65?

It means I plan on working until I'm dead or close to it.

Why would you do this? You do know there's little virtue in working, right?

Some people like their jobs

Poor, misguided souls. You know the adage about how the woman on her death bed declared, wistfully, "I really wished I had worked more." That never happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean you don't plan to retire? Are you just going to die at 65?

In what world does a person have to either die or stop working at 65?

It means I plan on working until I'm dead or close to it.

Why would you do this? You do know there's little virtue in working, right?

Some people like their jobs

Poor, misguided souls. You know the adage about how the woman on her death bed declared, wistfully, "I really wished I had worked more." That never happens.

Yeah. It actually does happen if what you do is what you LOVE to do and it creates positive change in the world. I would argue if your work doesn't satisfy both those points, you should find a new line of work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean you don't plan to retire? Are you just going to die at 65?

In what world does a person have to either die or stop working at 65?

It means I plan on working until I'm dead or close to it.

You might not have a choice. If you become sick or develop dementia etc, you won't be able to do your job and will need long term care. Alzheimer's patients can live a long time with decreased mental capacity. It's really sad.

My FIL is 88 and does not remember his own name much less his wife's whom he's been married to for the past 60+ yrs. Luckily he can afford the 20k month assisted living facility he and his wife are living at. It's very nice but still an old age home.

You don't want to be old and poor and have to go to a medicare paid for facility - not the kind of place to live out your golden yrs.

There is no such thing. Medicare doesn't pay for nursing homes. MediCAID does, not not Medicare.

Ok. I've been corrected.

My next door neighbor had his 92 yr old mil move in with them about 2 months ago b/c they did not want her to go to a mediCAID facility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean you don't plan to retire? Are you just going to die at 65?

In what world does a person have to either die or stop working at 65?

It means I plan on working until I'm dead or close to it.

Why would you do this? You do know there's little virtue in working, right?

Some people like their jobs

Poor, misguided souls. You know the adage about how the woman on her death bed declared, wistfully, "I really wished I had worked more." That never happens.

Yeah. It actually does happen if what you do is what you LOVE to do and it creates positive change in the world. I would argue if your work doesn't satisfy both those points, you should find a new line of work.

You don't know many old people do you? Many can't work b/c of health and old age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean you don't plan to retire? Are you just going to die at 65?

In what world does a person have to either die or stop working at 65?

It means I plan on working until I'm dead or close to it.

Why would you do this? You do know there's little virtue in working, right?

Some people like their jobs

Poor, misguided souls. You know the adage about how the woman on her death bed declared, wistfully, "I really wished I had worked more." That never happens.

Yeah. It actually does happen if what you do is what you LOVE to do and it creates positive change in the world. I would argue if your work doesn't satisfy both those points, you should find a new line of work.

You don't know many old people do you? Many can't work b/c of health and old age.

+1

Or their employer doesn't want an elderly employee, regardless of knowledge and experience.

[Anonymous]

^having a eighty yr old employee who uses a walker and is tethered to a pole or an oxygen tank is not the kind of corporate image most employers want... Does not matter how much the eighty yr old LOVES their job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean you don't plan to retire? Are you just going to die at 65?

In what world does a person have to either die or stop working at 65?

It means I plan on working until I'm dead or close to it.

Why would you do this? You do know there's little virtue in working, right?

Some people like their jobs

Poor, misguided souls. You know the adage about how the woman on her death bed declared, wistfully, "I really wished I had worked more." That never happens.

Yeah. It actually does happen if what you do is what you LOVE to do and it creates positive change in the world. I would argue if your work doesn't satisfy both those points, you should find a new line of work.

You don't know many old people do you? Many can't work b/c of health and old age.

What does that have to do with what I said?

The response was to the poster who said only misguided people want to work in their old age. Which is completely and totally untrue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean you don't plan to retire? Are you just going to die at 65?

In what world does a person have to either die or stop working at 65?

It means I plan on working until I'm dead or close to it.

Why would you do this? You do know there's little virtue in working, right?

Some people like their jobs

Poor, misguided souls. You know the adage about how the woman on her death bed declared, wistfully, "I really wished I had worked more." That never happens.

so you have been present on every single death bed since the beginning of time? interesting.